Off the Cuff in 2019

In the past year or so I’ve taken a relatively strategic approach to running In it 4 the Long Run (plus the podcast and instagram) as a business. I watch the trends, and as blog visits go down and instagram rises in popularity I adjust how I blog and create content. I’m not emotional or nostalgic about these changes. If there’s one thing I learned about this digital space is that things will always change. With the blog, I’ve tried to make sure every blog post I shared was IN-DEPTH. I’m talking tons of tips, takeaways, information.

As a result, I blog a lot less. I’m a one-woman show. Occasionally my husband will take an instagram of me, but that’s about it. I know it seems like blogging and podcasting is an easy thing to manage solo (and for a lot of people it probably is). For me, running it as a business just means more time dedicated to the management, sponsors, bookkeeping, taxes, organization and less time strictly creating content. I also work for myself as a photographer so those gigs are sprinkled in the mix.

I’m Craving More Less than Perfect, Off the Cuff Writing

What I’m trying to say is I’ve been blogging way less. Partly because I am seeing and reacting to trends, partly because I’m pretty much as full out as I want to be.

Yet this year, I want to do things slightly different. I’m in this space of allowing, curiosity and non-attachment to this work as my one and only career. With that beautiful freedom, I want to keep exploring as authentically as I can. I’m ok if my risks don’t work. I’m ok if people don’t love what I do.

When it comes to the blog that means I want to share more pieces like this. Short, mini-essays, that are off the cuff. The kind that won’t show up in Google’s search algorithm. These posts are written for YOU to read. This doesn’t mean my meatier more practical wellness and personal growth blogs are going anywhere. I love writing and sharing those.

I just want to be more present on the blog and in my work. Hopefully, this can help me in my personal life too. (I’ll get back to you on how that works out.) I don’t want to feel like I’m looking at my work from a distance anymore or that I make decisions just because they will be profitable or someone else’s definition of success. I enjoy sharing more real-time, rough draft ideas with you. To be honest, I’ve struggled to share my ideas, thoughts, truth, real-time because I’ve been so afraid of other people’s opinions. Not exactly about what the content is but whether my “boundaries are healthy enough.” I am afraid of the overshare or not providing you with enough value. All of it is the same thing: fear of not being enough, fear of being rejected. It’s human but I’m aware and open enough to acknowledge it without letting it stop me from sharing what my truth is.

Who else needs a tattoo that says “it’s ok if not everyone likes you.”?

It doesn’t feel right, for me personally, any more to create a strategy for my blog and craft my life around it. I want to LIVE and then blog/shoot/podcast/create around it.

Live, then blog. Not blog, then live.

Thanks for reading this. Just in case it’s not abundantly clear I’m always figuring it out. There’s no grand plan or marketing funnel. Just a girl learning what living well means and sharing it with her friends (that’s you!).

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